Kimono Fabric Island Island Production Is Decreasing.

According to the world clothing shoes and hats net, in Japan's southern Amami Oshima, Kagoshima, between white sand and lush forests, there is a unique Japanese handmade high-end.

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Big island is a kind of cocoon silk, which has long been considered the most advanced.

One of the fabrics.

But the demand for kimono continued to decline in Modern Japan, which led to a decline in the production of big island.

At present, the Japanese government is working with producers and fashion brands to ensure that this unique fabric is preserved in the world.

Oshima's production has a history of over 1300 years, but recently excavated tools show that it can be traced back to earlier.

Many factors in Oshima's production process have led to the uniqueness of the fabric. Generally speaking, the production process of this fabric can be divided into 30 independent parts. The main processes include machine stopping, wheel dyed dyeing, mud dyeing, dyeing and hand weaving.

Oshima's raw material is white silk.

This white silk thread was originally produced on the island, but now most of it is imported from Brazil.

In order to make solid black silk thread, it is necessary to soak it for 20 minutes in the ferruginous dye solution mixed with rhizome of tannin and Rubus, because of the hard texture of this tree in Japan.

The next step is mud dyeing. Skilled craftsmen, in spring, summer, autumn and winter, are constantly rubbing the silk thread in the mud by hand.

The iron rich Amami Oshima soil will have a natural chemical reaction with the plant dyes on the silk thread, turning the color of the silk thread into a deep chestnut brown.

After five times of dyeing, the yarn will turn black.

But today, chemical dyes are unable to present the special black formed by natural ingredients: pure, warm, soft and glossy.

Katsuya Taira, a craftsman who has made the big island for more than 30 years, said that he spent about four hours in a day, bending down to dye the silk in the mud. During that time, he could dye the silk thread of 125 miles, weaving a rolled cloth and needing more than 1250 miles of silk thread.

"Every two weeks, we will replace the water washing place, because after a period of time, the iron in the land will be depleted.

It's a physical work, but as long as I have the strength, I want to continue to do it. "

If the pure black silk thread is a concentrated labor, the following is the most noticeable part of the whole production process.

In order to make a typical big island geometric pattern and pattern, some silk threads will be knitted together with cotton before dyeing.

After dyeing, the cotton thread can be removed and the stripe effect can be displayed.

These patterns will eventually appear in the form of painting on the island.

These threads will be spread on the grid with different color dots to form images.

The original process was completed by hand, and now it is the only computerized part of the whole production process.

The grid is used to decide where to put cotton thread into silk thread. Even in the process of dyeing black, these parts are still white.

After removing a specific part of the cotton thread at the same time, the craftsman will use a knife like tongue plate to weave into other colored threads.

The more color the pattern, the more times the cotton thread is drawn.

This process is the most important part of the whole complex production, so long as we make a mistake, we can not weave it into a fabric.

The whole dyeing process of silk thread is about 6~10 months.

After dyeing, the silk thread is placed on the hand loom and can be knitted.

This is the first step to make the pattern appear, but when the silk thread extends on the loom, the pattern is no longer consistent. Therefore, the textile worker must constantly adjust the silk thread to match every point on the grid pattern.

Each textile worker can weave 12 inches of cloth a day, and it takes two months to finish a cloth that is 40 feet long.

Katsura Taira said: "the most unique thing about big island is that no one will know whether every link in the whole production process can be successfully completed until the final completion.

That's what attracted me to this job.

The beauty of the finished island can not be fully understood through pictures.

Tokuharu Koshima, President of Oshima Tsumugi Mura, said: "(Big Island) will not be very soft or hard. It will not be too thick or thin. Because a tight knitted fabric can keep warm even though it is light, and it is not easy to wrinkle."

TAISUN, a large island factory, is a production factory established by Yue Qing Qing's father. At present, it also provides sightseeing services.

Like many traditional Japanese handicrafts, Oshima's production is confined to one place, and production in recent years has been declining.

According to data from the association of big island fabrics, the island reached its peak production in 1976 with an annual output of 11 million 640 thousand meters, but its output is only 360 thousand meters.

Therefore, the Japanese government is constantly exploring other uses of this fabric outside kimono.

In 2015, Kubota Orimono, a company that produced and sold big island in Kagoshima, worked with Tokyo's clothing manufacturers to create a new brand Tatsugo, selling accessories such as ties and bags made by Oshima through the Internet.

Recently, an exhibition was held at isdan department store in Shinjuku, Tokyo, to display the large island products of some famous Japanese fashion brands.

Including Yamamoto Teruji (Yohji Yamamoto) skirt (below), Needles jacket, Sasquatchfabrix's shirt and blouse, etc.

Yokoyama Daisuke, Sasquatchfabrix's Daisuke Yokohama, said: "because this is my first time to use big island, I decided to visit the factory.

Warp and weft yarns are woven together to make patterns. Each silk thread is separately designed, dyed with specific patterns, and then manually woven.

Some of the brands have used big island in this event.

Shimizu Keimi of Needles (Keizo Shimizu) said he made a limited edition slipper in the 2016 spring and autumn series with black clay and purple dye matching sweet potato pattern, but this event was the first time that Oshima was used for clothing.

"In order to show the advantages of this fabric, we made two coats this time.

I believe I can show the magnificence of the fabric, but the design is limited due to the lack of cloth. "

Narrow cloth is a typical feature of kimono fabric.

Yokoyama Daisuke also said that this would restrict the use of big island in modern fashion design.

Another factor is the high price caused by the long labor cost and long production time.

But Yue Yue Qing, who studied design in Paris, said he would not let big island become history.

"I want to use new ways to use big islands on new things. The key is to keep thinking about new ideas."

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